9 May 2011--Today we continued with speeches. The students then began watching, "The Great Gatsby," and filling out viewing guides for the story.
5 May 2011--Yesterday the students finished their researach assignments over the 1920s. Today they finished watching, "A River Runs Through It."
3 May 2011--Four more students gave their speeches today. The students then went to the library and worked on group research assignments over the 1920's, which is the time period of the book we will be reading next, The Great Gatsby.
2 May 2011--Today we took the unit test over the Modern and Contemporary units. The students then wrote a journal entry and finished by continuing to watch, "A River Runs Through It."
29 April 2011--We made it through the week! Today started with four more students giving their speeches. The students then did another journal entry and they finished their review for the Modern/Contemporary Unit Test, which is on Monday.
28 April 2011--We began today with a review of participles--verbs used as adjectives. The students then took a quiz over one of the poems that we read yesterday, "Mirror." We read another poem, "The Unknown Citizen" and read a short nonfiction piece by Truman Capote, "A Ride Through Spain." We finished class with the students working on the test review for the modern/contemporary periods and working on their projects for reading circles.
27 April 2011--What a wonderful rainy Wednesday! As if we needed more rain. Today the students started class with a review of gerunds. They then reviewed the introduction to the Contemporary Period and then worked on vocabulary for that period. We then took notes over Sylvia Plath and read two of her poems, "Mirror" and "Mushrooms." We finished class with some questions over the two poems.
26 April 2011--Today the students started with some more speeches. They then reviewed complex sentences and took a quiz over the story we read yesterday, "Soldier's Home." The students then looked at two poems by e.e. cummings and discussed style and setting. We finished class by working on the introduction to the Contemporary Period.
25 April 2011--Hello Monday! Today the students started by reading a short story by Ernest Hemingway, "Soldier's Home." They then took a quiz over "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall." After that they read a poem by Robert Frost called, "Birches" and we discussed modernism and blank verse. The students then watched a short story by William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" and completed a viewing quiz. We finished class with a journal entry.
22 April 2011--Happy Friday! Today the students started class with finishing, "The Jiling of Granny Weatherall." They then listened to a few more speeches before taking notes over Ernest Hemingway. We finished class with a journal entry.
21 April 2011--The students finished the Realism unit with the test on Tuesday. They watched "Huck Finn" yesterday and today we started the Modern Period, after a brief review of compound sentences. We looked at the introduction to the Modern Period and the students worked on vocabulary. We then discussed stream-of-consciousness, a literary technique developed during the modern period and began reading an example of this technique, "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall."
18 April 2011--On Friday we worked on visual aids for speeches. Today the students took notes over Stephen Crane and read his poem, "War is Kind" before discussing Realism and Naturalism. The students were then given a study guide for the test over Realism, which is tomorrow. We did a short review activity and class ended with a journal entry.
14 April 2011--Today the students started with a review of the subject/linking verb/predicate nominative sentence pattern. They then took a quiz over "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" before moving on to discuss irony. We then took notes over Willa Cather and read her short story, "A Wagner Matinee." We then took a quiz over "The Story of an Hour" and ended class by reviewing the vocabulary for realism by drawing illustrations to match the words.
13 April 2011-We started today with another sentence pattern--this time we looked at the subject/linking verb/predicate adjective pattern. The students then finished the short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and we discussed comic devices. The students were then given time to meet with their reading circle groups and discuss projects, which are due on the 29th. They also signed up to give their speeches to the class. We finished class by taking notes over Kate Chopin and reading her short story, "The Story of an Hour."
12 April 2011--We began today with a short review of the sentence patterns we have covered so far and then we looked at a new type--the subject/verb/direct object/object compliment pattern. The students then reviewed the vocabulary we did yesterday before finishing the story we started, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." We then discussed three different types of point of view and the students got into groups and used a different point of view from the story and wrote a letter. We then took notes over Mark Twain and began reading his short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." We finished class with a quiz over "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and a journal entry, which we didn't get to yesterday.
11 April 2011--I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break. Today we started with the introduction to Realism, the next unit we will be studying. The students then looked at vocabulary for Realism. They then took notes over Ambrose Bierce before beginning to read his short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge."
1 April 2011--Happy Friday. Today we started in the computer lab so that the students could finish typing their final drafts. We then returned to the room and the students wrote another journal entry and met with their reading circle groups.
31 March 2011--We began today with another review of sentence patterns. This time we looked at the subject/verb/indirect object/direct object pattern. The students then returned to the computer lab and continued to type the final drafts of their speeches.
30 March 2011--We reviewed another type of sentence pattern today, the subject/verb/direct object pattern. The students then went to the computer lab and began typing the final drafts of their speeches. We did have clubs during class though, so we only had 45 minutes.
29 March 2011--Today started with a review of the simplest form of sentence pattern--the subject/verb pattern. The students then met with their reading circles and ended class by writing the rough drafts of their speeches.
28 March 2011--We started a new set of journals today because it is the beginning of the last nine weeks. The students then worked on the informative and persuasive outlines for the speeches. They will be using one of these outlines to write their speech. We will begin writing rough drafts and researching tomorrow.
25 March 2011--I have been out for the last two days, but the students have still been working. Yesterday, they took their mid-terms for this class. Today journals were due, so they were given time to work on them. They were also given time to organize notebooks--today was the last day to turn those in.
22 March 2011--The students finished their mid-term reviews today, and also finished watching "Homecoming" which they started on Friday. They were also given more time to organize their notebooks.
21 March 2011--Welcome back to another week! This week is the end of this nine weeks, so the students were given the opportunity to work on some assignments that are due. They were given time to write in their journals, which are due on Friday. They were also given notebook checklists and time to organize their notebooks, which are due by Thursday. They were also given a mid-term review. The mid-term for this class is on Thursday.
16 March 2011--We began today with reading circles. We didn't do reading circles yesterday because of the ACT. After reading circles, the students worked on finishing their review for the Romantic Period test, which is tomorrow. We finished class with a review game for the test.
15 March 2011--Today was the ACT test, so all juniors were taking the test this morning. I am very proud of our students, I think they did well!
14 March 2011--Tomorrow is the ACT test, so today we looked at some practice questions for the English and Reading sections of the test. We also looked at some different test taking strategies as well as looked up the ACT requirements for different colleges in the area.
10 March 2011--We started today with a journal entry because we were going to fall one short. The students then worked on prepositional phrases some more to see if they have been paying attention for the last two days. After that we worked on some ACT prep for making inferences in passages. We also took a quiz over the story we read yesterday, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment." The class finished up by working on a test review for the Romantic Period.
9 March 2011--Today began with a review of prepositions, again. This time we looked at prepositional phrases. After that some students finished reading, "The Minister's Black Veil" before we took a quiz over the story. After that we read another story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" and discussed allegory. We then read a poem by Edgar Allan Poe called, "To Helen" and discussed allusion. We finished class with the students working on using strategies to find main idea in a passage.
8 March 2011--We began today with a review of prepositions. The students then got into reading circle groups for the second time with this book. After that they took a quiz over the story that we finished yesterday, "The Fall of the House of Usher." The students then continued to read "The Minister's Black Veil" as a class for a little bit and worked on individual reading comprehension for the last part of the story.
7 March 2011--Welcome to another week. Today the students started with another journal entry. They then finished the story, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and discussed the literary terms atmosphere and gothic. We also finished the story, "The Black Cat." After that, the students took notes over Nathaniel Hawthorne and we began reading his short story, "The Minister's Black Veil." We took the last five minutes for the students to write a short critique paragraph over "The Black Cat."
4 March 2011--Finally Friday! We started today with a journal entry. The students then got in their reading circle groups. After that we continued to read, "The Fall of the House of Usher." We finished class with the students continuing to watch, "The Black Cat."
3 March 2011--Today started with a quiz over the essays the students read yesterday, "Walden." They then reviewed the grammar we have covered this week--active/passive verbs and linking verbs. The students then began reading another Poe short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." We got about a quarter of the way through, and finished class by beginning to watch another story by Poe called, "The Black Cat."
2 March 2011--We reviewed active and passive verbs today before moving on to be introduced to Henry David Thoreau, and American Romantic writer and Transcendentalist. The students read and discussed sections from his essays, "Walden."
1 March 2011--Today the students went to the library to take AR tests for the Reading Circle books. They also turned in projects for their Reading Circle books and picked out new books to read for this 4 1/2 weeks. They also reviewed linking verbs.
28 February 2011--Hello Monday! Today Mrs. Rose, a guidance counselor, came in and the students filled out information for the ACT, which they will be taking on March 15th. The students then began the next set of journal entries.
25 February 2011--Happy Friday! Today the students started with a journal entry. They then took a quiz over the story we finished yesterday, "The Pit and the Pendulum." We finished class with an On-Demand writing prompt about students being given free money upon graduation for their futures. Their task was to write an editorial or a letter to persuade readers to approve or disapprove of this plan.
24 February 2011--We started today with a review of helping verbs. The students then finished reading Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Pit and the Pendulum." The students then got to go to the student/faculty dodgeball game.
23 February 2011--Class was a little different today. Sgt. Vincent from the National Guard came in and talked to the students about their ASVAB results, which they took in the fall. He also talked to them about financial aid from college and about other things concerning their future. We had just enough time left in class for the students to work on a review of simple verb tenses.
19 February 2011--Welcome to another week at BCHS! Today the students started with a journal entry. Journals are due on Friday. The students then took a quiz over the story we read last week, "The Devil and Tom Walker." After that they were introduced to William Cullen Bryant and read his poem, "Thanatopsis." They then began reading a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum." We finished class with the students finishing up the rough drafts from the On-Demand prompt that I gave on Friday.
18 February 2011--Today began with a journal entry. The students then finished reading the short story we started yesterday, "The Devil and Tom Walker" and we reviewed plot. They then got with their reading circle groups and we finished up class by working on an On-Demand prompt.
17 February 2011--The students began class with a quiz over subject/verb agreement. We then reviewed vocabulary and took notes over Washington Irving. We finished class by beginning to read the his short story, "The Devil and Tom Walker."
16 February 2011--We started today with clubs. The students then worked on another review of subject/verb agreement.
15 February 2011--Today we reviewed subject/verb agreement. The students then got with their reading circle groups and we discussed the projects that will be due on the on the 29th. We then finished reviewing the introduction for the Romantic Period and the students worked on vocabulary for this unit.
14 February 2011--Happy Valentine's Day! Today the students started class with a journal entry. They then were given the introduction for the Romantic Period and were given more time for decorating their journals. This class was interrupted quite a bit with students being called out to get flowers, but we'll make up for it tomorrow!
4 February 2011--Happy Friday! We made it a whole week! Today the students took their test over the Colonial/Revolutionary unit. They also met with their reading circles and did a journal entry. We ended with the students getting an opportunity to decorate their journals.
3 February 2011--The counselors came in today to talk to the students about signing up for class for next year. The students were given a paper to fill out, have parents sign, and bring back tomorrow. The students also finished up the test review and worked on the ILP some more. Test is tomorrow.
2 February 2011--Today in class, the students took a review quiz over the parts of speech we have gone over. They then worked on the reviews for the Colonial/Revolutionary unit test before going to the library. While in the library, some worked on their ILP while others finished up the review. The test is on Friday of this week.
1 February 2011--I was out yesterday at an ACT workshop so the students watched a video. Today, we began with a journal entry. The students then worked on vocabulary for the Revolutionary Period before finishing up the revolutionary period by reading and discussing a poem by Phillis Wheatley called, "To His Excellency, General Washington." We also discussed personification. We ended class by meeting with reading circles and with beginning to work on the review for the Colonial/Revolutionary Unit test, which will be on Friday.
28 January 2011--I was wrong about making it an entire week. Today started with another journal entry. The students then finished the open note quiz over "The Declaration of Independence" that we started on Tuesday. We then met with reading circles and we finished class with the students working on an On-Demand prompt.
24 January 2011--I think we are going to make it an entire week this week. Today the students began class with a journal entry. They then picked their groups for reading circles and picked their books. After that we returned to the classroom and the students took notes over Benjamin Franklin and read and discussed some aphorisms from "Poor Richard's Almanack." We ended class with the students picking an aphorism and interpreting it.
18 January 2011--We began today with another journal entry since it was the first day of the week. The students then read two poems by Anne Bradstreet: "Upon the Burning of Our House" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband." After reading those poems we discussed the literary terms of Puritan Plain Style and Lyric Poetry. After reading, "To My Dear and Loving Husband," which is a love poem, the students got into groups of two or three and wrote response lyric poems as if they were Anne Bradstreet's husband. The students then took notes over Edward Taylor, another Puritan poet and read his poem, "Huswifery" and discussed figurative language. We ended class with the students beginning the introduction to the Revolutionary Period.
14 January 2011--Today the students wrote their first journal entry. They then finished the introduction to the Colonial Period and we reviewed that in class. They were then given vocabulary for the Colonial Period which we also reviewed. We ended class with an introduction to Anne Bradstreet, the first poet of the Colonial Period that we will be looking at.
10 January 2011--Welcome to English 11C! Today was our first day in class. The students and I went over the syllabus and they took a pre-test over some simple ACT English and Reading questions to see how much they know. We ended class by diving right into our first unit, which is the Colonial Period of American Literature. The students began working on an introduction to this time period.